Textile material



pt. 19, 1939. A. PETERSEN i 2,173,214

TEXTILE MATERIAL Original Filed June 20, 1936 I I l I merfeier em WMW%J@ wax Patented Sept. 19, 1939 TEXTILE MATERIAL Anker Petersen, Boston, Mass., assignor to James Joseph Lannon, West Newton, Mass.

Original application June 20, 1936, Serial No. 86,285. Divided and this application October 18, 1937, Serial No. 169,679

6 Claims.

This invention pertains to textile material of the nature of braid, and more particularly to a braid in which the individual constituent yarns extend each in a zigzag path longitudinally of the braid, as distinguished from the more common types of braid in which the yarns extend about the axis of the braid in continuous helices, the present application being a division of a copending application now issued as Letters Patent No. 2,096,592, dated October 19, 1937.

In the type of machine which is desirably employed for making the material of the present invention, each individual yarn carrier revolves in its own orbit about a fixed'point in space (instead of traveling bodily about the axis of the forming braid as is the case in machines of the other two more common types), but in such a manner that each such individual carrier orbit intersects the orbit of an adjacent carrier or car" riers, the result being that each individual yarn extends in a zigzag rather than in a helical path.

The zigzag type of braid resulting from the operation of machines of this third class possesses advantages over the usual helical type of braid for some purposes at least. For example, it is possible to ornament such a zigzag braid with continuous substantially straight longitudinal stripes of contrasting color or material; the resultant braid tends to have a longitudinally ribbed effect of an ornamental character quite distinct from that of the usual helical braid;'the zigzag braid,'in relatively large diameters, may constitute an outer covering or container for core material of any desired character and the core material may readily be released from such covering or container merely by breaking a single yarn of the braided cover, such breakage resulting in immediate splitting and opening out of the tubular structure so as to release the core material; and such zigzag braid usually shows far less tendency to stretch or collapse diametrically when subjected to longitudinal tension than does the usual helical braid, thus making it useful for purposes for which twisted strands are customarily employed but without the disadvantage of unbalanced twist which is common to twisted cords.

Among the objects of the present invention is to provide a novel braid of zigzag type of a distinct external appearance and/or containing core material in continuous or discontinuous lengths, and/or elastic or substantially inelastic as may be preferred.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be made manifest in the following (Cl. 9626) more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary developed view of a braid made in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevation of a piece of braided fabric made in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2a is a View similar to Fig. 2 but illustra ing the invention as embodied in elastic fabric; Figv 3 is a view generally similar to Fig. 1, but illustrating so-called double fabric produced by a machine having a greater number of braiding carriers but the same number of warp guides as that used in making the fabric of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation illustrating tubular braided fabric including discontinuous lengths of core material;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section, to very large scale, showing a tubular braided fabric including a multi-strand core; and

Fig. 6 is a view generally similar to Fig. 3, but illustrating certain desirable features of the invention in combination.

The several fabrics herein described and illu's- 'trated may be made by the operation of the mastantially triangular meshes M defined by zigzag body yarns Y, Y Y etc., each such body yarn crossing from one warp yarn of the panel to the other, alternate bends of each body yarn embracing the warp yarns at opposite sides respectively of the panel and each alternate bend of a given body yarn also embracing a bend of a body yarn to the'next adjacent panel. Thus, as illustrated in Fig. 1, each of the body yarns Y,

Y Y follows a zigzag course longitudinally of the V fabric, the Y comprising bights or bends 3'! directed toward the right and alternating bights or bends 38 directed toward the left. The bights 31 embrace bights 39 of the body yarn Y of the next adjacent panel to the right, while the bights 38 embrace bights or bends 40 of the body yarn Y of the next panel to the left. The warp yarns 4| and 42, for example, are also embraced by the bights 38 and 40 of the body yarns Y and Y and the warp yarn 42 is embraced by the bights 31 and 39 of the body yarns Y and Y respectively.

For certain purposes it is desirable to employ Warp yarns each consisting of a plurality of strands, as, for instance, when a bulky yarn is desired or where it is essential to use a very large number of associated strands, for example, of different colors or materials. Furthermore, it may be desired that such warp yarns shall have a predetermined twist more or less and in one or the other direction, thereby to avoid imparting unbalanced twist to the completed braid or to neutralize the tendency of the braid to twist by reason of the character of the body yarns em ployed. Again it may be desired to associate strands which are of very fragile material or which are very slippery and difficult to handle, if associated without substantial. twist in large numbers, to make a bulky soft strand of large diameter, provision for forming such warp yarns being described in my Patent No. 2,096,592 above referred to.

Furthermore, for the manufacture of certain kinds of material it is desirable to deliver a core, either continuous or discontinuous, into the center of the tubular braid as the latter is formed. For the production .and delivery of a continuous core, particularly when a bulky multi-strand core is desired, the braiding machine may be provided with core-forming mechanism, as fully disclosed in my aforesaid patent.

Sometimes it is desired to form a braid having a discontinuous core so that the braid assumes an external appearance of the general form illustrated in Fig. 4, wherein the portions 66 are of relatively small diameter containing no core or only a small core, while the parts 61 are of relatively greater diameter and contain sections of core of definite and usually uniform length. Such a braid may be considered as an elongate container or series of packages, bags or jackets, the length of the core material 6! forming the contents of each respective package, bag or jacket being readily released from the jacket material by pulling out one of the warp yarns or by cutting or breaking one of the body yarns, as illustrated at the lower part of Fig. 4.

In making such a braid, a length of core material may be delivered into the braiding die where it is jacketed by the forming braid and is pulled downwardly by the latter as the braid is drawn off by the take-up. The intervals between successive sections of core material may be determined by the operator, if hand feeding be employed, or in accordance with the design and setting of the automatic feeding means, if the latter be used. At the points between consecutive lengths of core material, the body and warp yarns tend to draw together, thus making a section 66 of very small diameter as compared to the diameter of that part 61 of the braid which contains the core material. After completion of the braid, it may be divided at these narrow sections, as by cutting it through transversely, thus forming a series of elongate packages each consisting of a length of core material jacketed by the intertwined or concatenated body yarns.

In Fig. 5 there is illustrated, in transverse section and to large scale, a tubular braid in accordance with the present invention and in which a multiple strand core is employed, such core comprising the inner secondary core15 .and the associated outer strands 16. These strands l5 and T6, for example, may be of some very light and loose material, for instance, the material known as "cellulose wadding, cotton linters, or lint cotton, wool or, in fact, any other desired fibrous, absorbent, or other material suitable for the particular use desired.

In making fabrics such as shown in Fig. 1, each raceway circle of the braiding machine is provided with but one braiding carrier. However, a material of closer texture and having a diamond or lozenge-shaped mesh such as shown in Figs. 3 and 6 may be made upon the same machine merely by doubling the number of carriers. Thus, although the same number of warp yarns M, 42, etc. may be used, there are twice as many body yarns in each panel, as indicated at Y Y (Fig. 3), each body yarn having straight diagonal runs which cross the similar runs of its associated body yarn to form open meshes M of diamond or lozengeshape.

An additional efiect may be obtained, as illustrated for example in Fig. 1, by selecting body yarns which are of different size and material. Thus the body yarns Y may be of a heavy material, while the alternate yarns Y are of a lighter or thinner material, the result being the formation of a pronounced longitudinally ribbed effect in which the alternate panels are thicker than the intervening panels. Furthermore, by using alternate body yarns Y and Y of different colors, as indicated for example in Fig. 2, pronounced longitudinal color stripes may be obtained; and if the core employed be of a color similar to that of one of the body yarns, the correspondingly colored body yarn becomes substantially invisible,the effect being that of distinct stripes of the core color with intervening zigzag ladders of the contrasting color.

It is further contemplated that the invention may be embodied in elastic fabrics in which either the body yarns, the warp yarns, the coreforming yarns, or all of them, may be of elastic material. Thus, as further illustrated in Fig. 2 the body yarns Y and Y and the warp yarns Y are rubber strands, for example cut rubber threads, while at another point of the fabric the body yarns Y" and Y and the warp yarn Y are rubber threads covered with textile or other wrappings.

It is further evident that by increase in the size of the braiding die it becomes possible to make fabric of large diameter sufiicient to form bags, sacks or jackets for merchandise of various kinds, or to form insulating coverings for electrical wires or cables, it being within the scope of the operation of the machine to use wires or the like either as the body yarns, warp yarns or core yarns,

In Fig. 6 there is illustrated a further modification in which the fabric is of the close-textured type previously described and shown in Fig. 3, but having the body yarns in alternate panels heavier than those in the intervening panels and also having the warp yarns of elastic material, such as covered rubber threads. Such a material is very elastic longitudinally, is of a close texture, and exhibits the pronounced ribbed effect to which reference has already been made.

While certain desirable embodiments of the invention have herein been illustrated and described by way of example, it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to the precise details described nor to the materials suggested, but that any equivalents, either in mechanism or materials or the relative arrangement of parts, are to be regarded as falling within the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A tubular braided fabric whose outer surface consists of a circumferentially uninterrupted series of longitudinally extending panels, each panel comprising a pair of substantially parallel Warp yarns extending longitudinally of the braid, and a body yarn zigzagging between the warp yarns of each pair, respectively, with alternate bends of the zigzag body yarn embracing the respective warp yarns of the pair, and secondary body yarns of such character as to be relatively inconspicuous as compared with the aforesaid body and warp yarns, said secondary body yarns zigzagging between the proximate Warp yarns of adjacent pairs, respectively, and having alternate bends of each zigzag secondary yarns embracing said proximate yarns, respectively, of said adjacent pairs of warps.

2. A tubular braid whose outer surface consists of a circumferentially uninterrupted series of longitudinally extending panels each bordered by substantially straight warp yarns, the fabric comprising two sets of body yarns, the yarns of the two sets being of contrasting character, the yarns of one set alternating with those of the other set, each body yarn extending in a zigzag path longitudinally of the fabric, each alternate bend of one body yarn being looped through a bend of the next adjacent body yarn thereby toform an integral fabric structure, and warp yarns each extending lengthwise of the braid, each Warp yarn being of substantially the same character as the body yarns of one set, each warp yarn being embraced by successive pairs of inter looped bends of a pair of adjacent body yarns, respectively.

3. A tubular braid having a striped outer surface comprising a circumferentially uninterrupted series of longitudinally extending strips alternately of different appearance, said braid be ing of zigzag type comprising two sets of body yarns, the yarns of one set being of substantially different diameter from those of the other set, the yarns of one set alternating with those of the other set, each body yarn extending in a zigzag path from one end of the braid to the other, each alternate bend of one body yarn being interlooped with a bend of the next adjacent yarn, and one or more warp yarns, each extending longitudinally of the braid, each Warp yarn being of substantially the same diameter as the body yarns of one set, each warp yarn being embraced by successsive pairs of interlooped bends of adjacent body yarns of a pair.

4. A tubular braid whose outer surface consists of a circumferentially uninterrupted series of longitudinally extending panels, each panel being bordered laterally by a pair of substantially parallel, straight warp yarns, each panel being crossed by substantially straight runs of one or more body yarns each of which extends in a zigzag path longitudinally of the braid, each alternate bend of a given body yarn being looped through a bend of a body yarn of the next adjacent panel, each warp yarn being embraced by the interlooped bends of a pair of adjacent body yarns.

5. A tubular braided fabric of substantially uniform texture throughout having a series of longitudinally extending panels, each panel being laterally bounded by a pair of substantially parallel warp yarns, each panel comprising a longitudinally extending series of open lozenge-shaped meshes formed by two zigzag body yarns having diagonal crossing runs, alternate bends of each body yarn of a given panel being interlooped with a bend of a body yarn of the next adjacent panel, each alternate bend of each body yarn of a given panel also embracing one of the warp yarns of said panel.

6. A tubular braided fabric of substantially uniform texture throughout having a circumferentially uninterrupted series of longitudinally extending panels, each panel being laterally bounded by a pair of substantially parallel warp yarns, each panel being crossed by substantially straight runs of an elastic body yarn which extends in a zigzag path longitudinally of the panel, alternate bends of each body yarn of a given'panel being interlooped with a bend of the body yarn of the next adjacent panel, each alternate bend of each body yarn of a given panel also embracing one of the Warp yarns bordering said panel, all of the constituent yarns being elastic whereby the fabric is stretchable both longitudinally and transversely.

ANKER PETERSEN. 

